A Texas man who spent four years in jail for stabbing a 16-year-old friend to death five years ago is accused of another homicide while he was out on bond awaiting trial, authorities said.
Edward O’Neal IV, a 23-year-old man from Houston, was awaiting a pending trial due to a mental health issue in the alleged homicide of his friend Ryan Roberts, who was stabbed multiple times and found dead in a wooded area in January 2016.
O’Neal, who was just 18 at the time, was being held at the Harris County Jail on a $50,000 bond and was released earlier this year after a mental health court judge halved his original bond in June, according to court records obtained by ABC13.
He was released on bond in August after the judge changed lowered the amount to $25,000 at the request of the suspect’s defense attorney.
O’Neal has now been accused again of another homicide that took place in late November, when he allegedly shot and killed his 39-year-old cousin’s boyfriend, Derrick Mike.
Mike was found conscious with multiple gunshot wounds by police officers responding to the Nov. 28 shooting at about 11 p.m. at a parking lot outside of the victim’s apartment complex on West Montgomery Road, according to a news release from the Houston Police Department (HPD).
Paramedics immediately transferred the victim to HCA Houston Healthcare Northwest hospital where he died of his injuries the next day, police said.
Authorities added that Mike was able to describe his assailant to an HPD patrol officer before paramedics rushed him to the hospital.
“Upon arrival, they found the victim suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. The suspect, described only as a black male, 21 to 23 years of age, remains at large,” Houston police said at the time.
Meanwhile, O’Neal confessed to his mother following the shooting, telling her he fatally shot his cousin’s boyfriend at her request, court records obtained by the Houston Chronicle show.
O’Neal’s cousin told investigators that a handgun she had inside her apartment was gone following the shooting and she also saw her cousin running away after she looked outside of the window following the sound of gunfire, adding that she hadn’t seen the shooting herself.
The suspect’s mother also told investigators her son has mental health issues and that she’s afraid he might hurt or kill more people.
O’Neal was arrested at his home on Homestead Road on Dec. 4 and is now requested by prosecutors to be held without bond, the records show.
Christina, the mother of first homicide victim Ryan Roberts, told ABC13 earlier this week she told the district attorney he should not have been released from jail.
“I told the DA he should not get out. He killed my son, he’ll be killing again,” she said.
O’Neal also confessed to his mother in 2016 that he had stabbed Roberts to death and placed his body in nearby woods, the Chronicle reported. The suspect’s mother also said her son previously killed two of the family’s pets and has a serious mental health issues.
The Harris County District Attorney’s Office issued a statement to the ABC affiliate on O’Neal’s early release and bond being lowered.
“Our prosecutors told the judge in court that we opposed bond being lowered for this defendant and we twice filed motions asking the judge to set conditions on the defendant’s bond if he were to be released pending trial,” the office wrote.
“We also let the judge know the facts of the original murder, to ensure the court was aware of our concerns for public safety.”
